City Council Planning Lawsuit Over Homeless Shelter Policy

November 29, 2011

City Council plans to try and stop a new policy from the Mayor’s administration that would require homeless people to prove they have nowhere else to go before they can be admitted into a shelter. Council Speaker Christine Quinn described the policy as “cruel and punitive”; the pending suit represents the first in Quinn’s six-year tenure as speaker, according to the Times.

The new, more stringent homeless policy was supposed to take effect this month but was postponed because of a lawsuit from the Legal Aid Society.

The Council’s General Welfare Committee will vote today on whether to mount a suit. Councilmembers are expected to vote in favor. The lawsuit would accuse the mayor’s administration of not providing enough public notice of the new policy, which is legally required.

Kate Taylor notes that Quinn, who will probably run for mayor, “is under pressure from liberals to differentiate herself from the mayor.”